Heading Home ... via Three Countries

I'm homeward bound.  However, in a rather relaxed sort of way since I have done little leapfrogs through Austria, Germany and now France.  My first port of call was Graz, which unfortunately was sweltering in 34 degree heat.  So apart from climbing the hill to the castle (of course there was a castle and of course it was on top of a hill) and admiring the buildings and the views, I didn't spend a lot of time here ... 

Kunsthaus Graz (art gallery)

Graz didn't suffer from much bombing in WWII so many of the original red tiled roofs survived ... one of the things Graz is famous for.

The tunnels under the castle were built by prisoners of war and forced labour.  There are 6.3 kilometres of tunnels that could accommodate over 40 000 people in air-raid shelters

The clock tower up at the castle has the hands the wrong way around (deliberately) ... very confusing!  So the time here was actually 1:15 pm NOT 5 or so minutes past 3

I'm not saying anything!

I left Graz and headed to Salzburg.  Why?  To see the beautiful buildings?  Explore The Sound of Music?  Head off into the Alps?  No!  To use the washing machine at the youth hostel.  After putting everything through twice, my clothes are now officially clean!

Coffee is SO expensive now ... take me back to Albania!  Remember, these prices are euros - so double them and then add in the factor that the cups are half the size of those in Australia and you'll see what I mean. 

There was a pretty good market around the corner of the hostel

But goodbye Austria and hello Ulm in Germany.  I loved Ulm!  I was sorry I only had 2 days there.  It was a city/town that had everything ... amazing buildings, beautiful green spaces, brass bands, good food, even a great museum ... and beggars.  Beggars everywhere.  According to my Strasbourg friends, these beggars are part of organisations and they get bussed in every day and have their own areas.  But I felt very sorry for the men with limbs missing and who were so thin and dirty.  It's the first time I've seen this level of homelessness.  Ulm is also very multicultural, with a large number of people who seem to be refugees.  It certainly was different to everywhere else I've travelled in this area - perhaps this volume and visibility of people has helped the conservatives of Germany regain power.

Ulm cathedral has the tallest church spire in the world!

Ulm rathaus was gorgeous ... its entire surface covered with paintings

Ulm seemed to be having a bit of a brass band moment while I was there.  Bands walked down the streets, oompahing away ... although I was most impressed with the glockenspiels, that put out quite a bit of noise.  One band seemed to have the right idea - they'd play a few tunes and then stop at some bar for a beer, before moving on towards the next one.  On my second day, I sat on a wall and listened to a concert.  No glockenspiels here ... this was serious (they even had a program).  The poor musicians were dressed in lederhosen, waistcoats, long socks, layered dresses ... my! they looked hot.  Should have called for beers!

In the old part of town, there is an area known as the Fishermen's Quarter, where half timbered houses straddle little rivers and canals.  There are waterwheels and little 'box' boats and, finally, some tourists.  Many of the houses have their foundations under water so there is a rather crazy effect where buildings tilt this way and that, hardly a vertical line to be seen.

And although I had sworn not to do it anymore, I visited a museum.  It was fantastic!  It was called Museum Brot und Kunst, which translates as the museum of bread and art.  Really?  How are these linked?  The museum was in an old grain warehouse and had three floors exploring all things bread ... different types, history of grains, milling, baking, anything about bread.  And interspersed with all this interesting information were beautiful artworks that were linked to the theme.  There were Breughels, a Chagall, a Dali sculpture and many, many other lovely paintings and artifacts.  I spent 2 hours there ... and never yawned once!

Dali's Retrospective Bust of a Woman

There were a few works that I fell in love with ... this is called The Plowman by Gerhard Marcks

Egyptian figure, grinding grain, from about 2000BC

There was also an exhibition (installation) by Daniel Brag called Cool Blossoms where he had put apple blossoms in jars in refrigerators to preserve them.  However, they were decomposing, giving really interesting effects ...

And on to Strasbourg.  It has been lovely catching up with my friends Ralf and Juergen and Wolfgang again.  Isn't it great when you can just slot back into a friendship, after a gap of years.  I first met Ralph and Juergen in Nepal (Chitwan National Park) in 2009 ... for one night.  And we have been friends ever since with me trying to visit whenever I come to Europe.

Wolfgang with Barry, an Irish terrier

Fracking damage, building in Staufen

Deer in the Black Forest ... well, actually they were domestic but I can pretend!

So we have visited here and there and survived some very hot days.  I've eaten Flammekueche and a lot of cheese ... in fact last night, to say goodbye, we went to a cheese restaurant.  What an experience!

Everyone thinks it's hot!

A raclette - where the cheese is melted and you scrape it off and eat it with vegetables, bread and meats

Our entree - a cheese tasting plate of the seven different types of cheeses.  I learned a lot from the man who explained it all.

The cheeses ... under the world's biggest cloche

Lunch with Ralf - five cheeses, a pinot noir and a crusty baguette.  How good!

So now the trip is finished.  I'm just waiting to go to the train station to take the fast train to the airport.  I've had a great time!  From the success of actually being able to walk in Ireland with Merran to the joys of Albania and the Balkan countries, I have enjoyed every minute.  It's been easy travelling (touch wood!) with so many lovely places, sights, experiences and people along the way.  But it's time to go home ... thank you for joining me on the journey.  I hope you've enjoyed it!

Beautiful Slovenia

Slovenia!  What a beautiful, neat, pretty, organised place.  It was instant ... cross the border from Croatia and all of a sudden things were neat.  And tidy.  Not a weed in sight.  No rubbish.  Graffiti ... but it was pretty graffiti!  I kid you not!  My first stop was Ljubljana and this city was a delight!  Beautiful.  Neat.  Organised.  And so welcoming.  I could stay here for weeks, if not longer.  I wonder if they need housesitters here?

The River Ljubljanica drifts through the city, crossed by lovely bridges (the Triple Bridge and the Dragon Bridge are the most famous).

There was a big market near the Dragon Bridge (and my 'home') which sold everything from fruit and vegetables to seedlings and pots of flowers.

My accommodation was in a really hip, graffiti-covered, bar-infested street ... and I was right next door to the Erotic Shop.  Great!

I loved walking around this town.  There were a few tourists but not in the numbers of Croatia.  And the locals seemed to be chilled about everything ... as far as I could see, they rarely moved far from a coffee or a wine.  I discovered the local IPA called Loo-Blah-Nah (cool name, huh!) and managed to rehydrate myself while walking all around the place.

Street performers were everywhere ...

... some playing very strange instruments.

The dragons of Dragon Bridge

There were statues everywhere, too ... not quite sure what they were all about but they had a bit of Damien Hirst about them.

This is a Klobasa s sirom - sausage (cheese kransky) wrapped in pastry with sauerkraut and mustard, horseradish on the side.  YUM!  White wine is purely for hydration.

I broke my rule and went to a museum.  I thought I should learn something about the history of Slovenia, since I was going to be here for a while, so I visited the National Museum of Contemporary History.  Slovenia, like all these countries, is relatively new.  However, unlike Croatia, its war with Yugoslavia (read Serbia and Montenegro) lasted a whole 10 days.  Yep!  That was it!  Evidently, Serbia realised that (a) everyone in Slovenia was a Slovene and not Serbs, (b) the country didn't have anything they wanted and (c) they were a bit bored and just wanted to use all their resources to pound Croatia.  So they said OK to independence and left.  A total of 18 fatalities.  

I walked up to the Castle ... of course there was a castle on top of the hill ... and had to giggle at the name of the main gate; A.E.I.O.U.  It stands for Austriae est imperare orbi universo / Austria is destined to rule over the entire globe.

But it was time to leave the city and to travel to the beautiful Bled.  Bled is a small town to the west of Ljubljana that is is on the banks of the lovely Lake Bled.  This is famous for having a small island in the middle that has a church on it.  I resisted the urge and didn't visit.  Instead, I walked around the lake (an easy 6 and a bit km) and admired all the lycra-clad rowers that had come to Bled for the 2025 International Regatta.  

I tried the local specialty of potato dumplings (really rolls) with mushrooms.  I'm not too keen of the dumplings but the mushrooms were delicious (and non-lethal).

And I took way too many photos ... lake, island in lake, island, church, island with church, lake with island and church ... I won't inflict them on you!

I did a day trip to Lake Bohinj. This was only an hour down the road but surprisingly much less touristy ... surprising because it was much more beautiful than Bled.  Again, I decided to walk around the lake and also up a hill (my undoing because I also fell down said hill).  Apart from the blood, grazes and bruises, it was a delightful walk ... only about 14 km all up but every minute was a WOW! moment.

Bohinj also stood out because there were so many wildflowers.  The path was often bordered with ripe wild strawberries (I foraged and they were delicious) and orchids and daisies pushed up between the grass.  Many of the flowers were recognisable as those common in cottage gardens ... some others I have no idea about.

Near Bled, is Vintgar Gorge.  Oh my!  Imagine clear, rapid, turquoise water, gushing between narrow rock walls.  The 'track' was a boardwalk that we all walked along in the same direction, only pausing to take a photo or to wait for the young things to take multiple selfies and TikTok struts.  At one stage, a rather brave old British bloke in front of me called out "I wouldn't keep doing that, love.  Your bum really does look big in that outfit!".  The young thing strutted off quite quickly.

So where to go next?  Ptuj!  Pronounced P-too-ey.  It was on the way to Austria which is on the way to Germany which is on the way to France which is where Charles De Gaulle Airport is ... so I guess that's a good enough reason to go there.  Mind you, I'm the only traveler that thought that ... in fact I was the only tourist there.  And boy! was everyone missing a gem of a place.  OK, quickly, Ptuj is the oldest town in Slovenia; it's on a beautiful river, the Drava; has great wines; has Roman ruins; has beautiful buildings and churches ... also seemed to be the centre for dressmakers making historical costumes!  Go figure!

Ptuj had a castle on top of the hill and a monastery ... I visited neither in accordance of my new resolution.

That pink building is my hotel where I was offered the BEST BREAKFAST EVER!  Pity I really don't like eating breakfast ... 

The monastery ... I did walk past

Ptuj also introduced me to some serious Slovenian cuisine.  I found a little local restaurant and ate there for two nights.  No English, no English menu, but the jovial owner just winked at me and brought me out beautiful meals ... a lovely little local wine ... and it was almost Albanian prices!

Chicken with gnocchi and mushrooms ... quail eggs on the top.

Always careful to keep up the hydration - the weather has been very warm.

Pork salad (with quail eggs - I think they are a signature element)

Slovenian tasting plate ... meat, salami, more meat, pressed tongue and that little ball of white in the middle is (rather delicious) pork fat, which you use instead of butter.

Oh, there are so many other places I wanted to go to in Slovenia but my time is running out.  So I have to say goodbye ... but, like Albania, I think this is a place I would enjoy coming back to since I am sure there are so many other delights like Ptuj just waiting for me.

And I thought my wood pile was neat ...

... so even, so uniform, so organised ...

Mind you, their signs are a bit confusing ... 

... a path to take your rabbit for a walk ...